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Gender, Parenthood, and the Vote in the 2004 Election
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The Politics of Parenthood:
The Impact of Parental Status, Involvement, and Gender on Political Attitudes
Parents played an unusually prominent role in the 2004 presidential election.
Although family values as a campaign theme first stole the political limelight during the 1992 election, and parent-oriented labels such as ‘soccer moms’ were highly visible throughout the latter half of the 1990s, the 2004 presidential election stands out for the high level of attention the candidates and the media gave to moms and dads. Even the most politically indifferent could not have made it through the fall of 2004 without seeing at least a couple stories about “NASCAR Dads” or “Security Moms,” which were run in media outlets ranging from Sports Illustrated to Good Morning America. Not only were parents a prominent frame in the election coverage,
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but the candidates worked hard to
woo parents. For example, both candidates and their wives made time during the final month of the campaign to sit down with Dr. Phil to talk about raising families (Sweet 2004). In an effort to win over “security moms” incumbent president George W. Bush emphasized his ability to protect America and the Vice-President’s daughter, Elizabeth Cheney, reinforced this message by repeatedly referring to herself as a ‘security mom’. Meanwhile Democrat John Kerry campaigned with ‘the 9/11 widows’ by his side and his running mate, John Edwards, made several joint appearances with ‘Military Moms on a Mission’ (Alberts 2004; Sweet 2004). Not forgetting about fathers, both the Republicans and the Democrats made a concerted effort to woo race-car lovers and the infamous ‘NASCAR Dads’ by attending race-car events and professing their love for the sport (Clarke 2003; Jonsson 2003; Kahn 2003).
In the aftermath of the 2004 election some commentators interpreted Bush’s
victory as revealing a new and significant divide in the American electorate – not the red state-blue state divide – but a “baby gap”, a divide between parents and non-parents (i.e. Brooks 2004; Kotkin and Frey 2004; Sailer 2004). An article in The New Republic argued that “pundits have overlooked what may have been the single most important predictor of the GOP’s victory – not Bibles or bullets, but Diapers” (Kotkin and Frey 2004). In a New York Times editorial titled “The New Red-Diaper Babies” David Brooks argued that there is a significant group of people in the United States for whom “personal identity is defined by parenthood.” Brooks argued that these people, who make their decisions, including political ones, based on what will best protect their children, formed a critical part of Bush’s winning coalition and will likely remain a vital component of the American electorate.
Despite the catchy labels and editorial speculation concerning the political
distinctiveness of parents, there has been no systematic empirical analysis of this issue. The goal of this paper is to develop a better understanding of the politics of parenthood. In this paper we ask and answer some basic questions: Do parents have different political
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According to a Lexis/Nexis search of major papers from January 1, 2004 until the election on November
2, 2004 there were 141 references to NASCAR Dads or Security Moms. There were 121 references to these groups from Labor day to the election.
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| | Authors: Greene, Steven. and Elder, Laurel. |
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1
The Politics of Parenthood:
The Impact of Parental Status, Involvement, and Gender on Political Attitudes
Parents played an unusually prominent role in the 2004 presidential election.
Although family values as a campaign theme first stole the political limelight during the
1992 election, and parent-oriented labels such as ‘soccer moms’ were highly visible
throughout the latter half of the 1990s, the 2004 presidential election stands out for the
high level of attention the candidates and the media gave to moms and dads. Even the
most politically indifferent could not have made it through the fall of 2004 without seeing
at least a couple stories about “NASCAR Dads” or “Security Moms,” which were run in
media outlets ranging from Sports Illustrated to Good Morning America. Not only were
parents a prominent frame in the election coverage,
1
but the candidates worked hard to
woo parents. For example, both candidates and their wives made time during the final
month of the campaign to sit down with Dr. Phil to talk about raising families (Sweet
2004). In an effort to win over “security moms” incumbent president George W. Bush
emphasized his ability to protect America and the Vice-President’s daughter, Elizabeth
Cheney, reinforced this message by repeatedly referring to herself as a ‘security mom’.
Meanwhile Democrat John Kerry campaigned with ‘the 9/11 widows’ by his side and his
running mate, John Edwards, made several joint appearances with ‘Military Moms on a
Mission’ (Alberts 2004; Sweet 2004). Not forgetting about fathers, both the Republicans
and the Democrats made a concerted effort to woo race-car lovers and the infamous
‘NASCAR Dads’ by attending race-car events and professing their love for the sport
(Clarke 2003; Jonsson 2003; Kahn 2003).
In the aftermath of the 2004 election some commentators interpreted Bush’s
victory as revealing a new and significant divide in the American electorate – not the red
state-blue state divide – but a “baby gap”, a divide between parents and non-parents (i.e.
Brooks 2004; Kotkin and Frey 2004; Sailer 2004). An article in The New Republic
argued that “pundits have overlooked what may have been the single most important
predictor of the GOP’s victory – not Bibles or bullets, but Diapers” (Kotkin and Frey
2004). In a New York Times editorial titled “The New Red-Diaper Babies” David Brooks
argued that there is a significant group of people in the United States for whom “personal
identity is defined by parenthood.” Brooks argued that these people, who make their
decisions, including political ones, based on what will best protect their children, formed
a critical part of Bush’s winning coalition and will likely remain a vital component of the
American electorate.
Despite the catchy labels and editorial speculation concerning the political
distinctiveness of parents, there has been no systematic empirical analysis of this issue.
The goal of this paper is to develop a better understanding of the politics of parenthood.
In this paper we ask and answer some basic questions: Do parents have different political
1
According to a Lexis/Nexis search of major papers from January 1, 2004 until the election on November
2, 2004 there were 141 references to NASCAR Dads or Security Moms. There were 121 references to
these groups from Labor day to the election.
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